New Orleans Skillet Pork Chops & Rice

Very good! I would make this again. The only point I would like to make about this one is that make sure you have about an hour in order to make this one.

Ingredients:

1 large celery stalk - chopped
2 tbs butter
1 medium onion - chopped
1/8 tsp salt
4 -  1/2 inch thick pork chops
1 1/2 cups water
2 tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1 cup long grain rice
2 cups tomato sauce


Procedure:

• Saute onion & celery in butter until slightly softened.
• Season pork chops with salt and pepper - brown on both sides - remove from pan.
• Add water, brown sugar and 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce in skillet.
• Stir in rice and fennel seeds.
• Return chops to skillet, spoon sauce and rice over them. Cover pan.
• Cook over medium to low heat for 30 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup tomato sauce - cook an additional 10 minutes (you may have to add more water, I did a few times.) 
• The goal is to make sure the rice is tender. If its still hard and not alot of liquid, keep adding liquid until rice is cooked. 

Mike and I buy our meat from Whittingham's in Alsip and the last time we went there, the 95 yr old man helped us so we ended up with very large pork chops!!!!... to the point where one pork chop will feed the both of us! They are awesome butchers though besides the mix up this time. So that's why in the picture there's only one pork chop in the pan.